Last month, we were thrilled to get a music-themed crate (which we learned was created in conjunction with Carnegie Hall!).

Inside we found the materials to make your own xylophone (complete with music sheets), rhythm bell bracelets and a few other musical items.

Step-by-step instructions are included in each crate, along with all the materials needed -- and I mean everything!

If you need glue, it's there! If you need tape, already included! Your first box will also include a cute pair of scissors that you can keep to use with all your crates.

Your monthly crates are always a surprise -- which my daughter loves!

We never know which project we'll get but she's always thrilled to learn more, create the crafts and do the activities.

So, back to the Holiday Crate - which are specially-themed crates you can choose.

There are 3 different themes (Christmas, Hannakuah and Winter). We decided to do the Crafty Christmas (couldn't resist the gingerbread house!)

The Crafty Christmas crate includes materials for two crafts:

a cardboard Gingerbread House & swirl ornaments.

Make a Gingerbread House

Lots of Fun Materials Included

The kit includes a very sturdy cardboard gingerbread house along with tons of stickers, pom poms, colored tissue paper, pipecleaners, ribbon and lots of felt decorations. There's a set of directions that help kids to put the house together but much of the rest is up to you.

Easy-to-follow Instructions

One of the things I enjoy about these crates is the fact that kids can do so much on their own. Above, my daughter is making the tiny wrapped candy - you can see it's a great tool for fine motor skills. And with picture directions, kids can quickly put things together.

A birds-eye view of the work!

The candy canes were made from pipecleaners that the kids can twist. And there are so many ways to decorate the house - her favorite was placing the while felt stickers on the room "to make it look like snow"!

TA-DA!

Here's our finished house!

The house kept her entertained for more than 2 hours!

There was quite a bit of thought put into where different decorations could be placed and some fun color-matching. The stickers had easy-to-remove backs so this was a really kid-friendly project (in fact, I made a batch of cookies while she did all the creating!).

And look at these cute gingerbread people!

Create Your Own Ornaments

Next we tackled the swirl ornaments -- there are 3 plastic ornaments included along with 3 paint colors (primary paint colors were included -- red, yellow and blue -- so my daughter got to mixing right away knowing that she wanted a green paint for Christmas).

If I had to add one thing to the crate, it would be white paint for this project. We wanted to make lighter colored ornaments and the yellow paint just wasn't working for us.

Mix!

So while kids are creating, they are also learning -- mixing blue and yellow paint to make green!

Pour!

The paints come in easy-to-squeeze bottles so kids can pour some in the ornaments with minimal mess!

Swirl!

Then just start turning the ornament and the paint colors swirl togther - this was her favorite part of making the ornaments.

Drip!

There are small plastic cups included for you - turn the ornaments upside down so the extra paint drips out.

Hang!

Then top the ornaments with the cork stoppers and red ribbons (all included) and they are ready to hang. These were super easy and very low mess - which I love at this time of the year!

Check Out Kiwi Crate

Whether you want holiday crafts or year-round activities, visit the Kiwi Crate website to see the great science, activity and craft options for the kids!

Got a question? I'd love to help answer it - just leave a comment below.

In addition to doing the crates at home with your kids, the crates also make AMAZING GIFTS!

Especially if you have to mail gifts - these are such a wonderful gift and will be shipped directly to the recipient!